


between the sunrise and us

by ykyoonoh



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Confessions, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29545302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ykyoonoh/pseuds/ykyoonoh
Summary: Mark didn’t understand why he was being hauled towards a car at four in the morning, but he was. And the stubborn, unstoppable force dragging him had a name: Lee Donghyuck.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	between the sunrise and us

**Author's Note:**

> a lil fic in honor of donghyuck getting his license!
> 
> listened to [navy blue - hasani](https://open.spotify.com/track/4CAFjRhubtiR8M3z4qbc2W?si=5RNkU5NoQPSWe30wv0Hu7w) while writing this

Mark didn’t understand why he was being hauled towards a car at four in the morning, but he was. And the stubborn, unstoppable force dragging him had a name: Lee Donghyuck. 

Blinking exhaustion out of his eyes, he tried to form a cohesive complaint and draw out a steady scolding to voice his dislike of the current circumstance, but all his tired body would allow him to convey was a feeble groan. With a heavy sigh and an even heavier drag of legs, he quickly gave up on any attempt at arguing and let himself be taken to wherever Donghyuck wanted to go. He could hear the light jingle of car keys in the others pocket, and figured he was in for the ride of his life. Literally. 

Donghyuck was wearing a new pair of adidas sweats that admittedly made his toned ass look fantastic. If he were more awake, he’d comment on this fact, but he wasn’t, so all he managed was a content hum. Paired with said pants was a sweatshirt Mark had seen a thousand times before. Overall, there was nothing new to what his friend was wearing, but still, as always, Mark thought he looked good. Even(read: especially) with a messy bed head he desperately wanted to run his hands through. 

He could easily go on all day about how pretty his best friend was, and he has, but going so far as to say that he finds Donghyuck attractive, well, he tried his best not to admit to that aloud. Because then he’d be telling the whole world the feelings he harbored for his friend. He thinks he’d crumble from the sheer weight of the honest words. 

Quickly shaking away his foggy morning “what if I said fuck it and confessed to my best friend” thoughts that were beginning to surface at the forefront of his mind, Mark looked forward again at the other. He compared Donghyuck’s outfit to his own and found them to be similar, the only difference being that he was wearing only a t-shirt in the freezing weather. Between being pulled out of bed and convinced to leave their apartment, Mark had completely forgotten to bring a jacket, something that was already causing him great suffering as a cold breeze traveled past his arms. 

Suddenly, like some sort of merciful godsend, Donghyuck—hand still persuading him through the parking lot—threw a sweatshirt straight into his face. 

“For if you get cold.” Donghyuck grinned. 

He sighed as he tried to shoo away his loving thoughts upon seeing Donghyuck’s smile—a sight he absolutely adored but didn't need to dwell on. It took him a second to successfully get rid of his sappy thoughts, but once he did, they were replaced by a mounting curiosity. 

Mark wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t excited, but he would also have to be honest and say he was terrified. While he’s never gone on a drive alone with Donghyuck, he’s seen first hand the stunts and plans his friend has pulled in the past. Through his slew of raging emotions, Mark could pinpoint the rising pace of his giddy heart, which only strengthened upon the full realization that he was holding his crush’s hand. 

The thrumming rhythm could be felt insistently pushing against his throat, jumping at each glance Donghyuck sent his way, and strangely enough, there was another shy beat he could feel. The second beat he felt was gentle and timid, a faint tap he could sense if he stared hard enough at their securely wrapped hands. 

Mark was jarred from his thoughts by a delighted exclamation on Donghyuck’s part, causing him to realize they had made it to the car. His car to be exact. He could guess what they were about to do. The day his friend had passed his drivers test, he had insisted they go on a mini road trip together, just the two of them; Donghyuck’s eyes had been filled with lighted stars when he had asked, it had been too hard to refuse the idea. 

Reminiscing on this thought caused his heartbeat to skyrocket, and Mark desperately sent a prayer to whoever was listening that Donghyuck couldn’t feel its nervous stutter. 

After a moment, he was being told to get into the car. And he did. He slid into the passenger seat, buckled his seatbelt, raised his arm to grasp the ceiling handle, and held on for dear life. Mark had forgotten to take into consideration that he’d never seen Donghyuck drive nor did he know the other’s experience level, and therefore had no idea if he unintentionally signed himself up for a hospital bill or heart attack. The other could’ve barely scraped past his test, he didn’t know. He got a fleeting slap on the thigh(presumably for his lack of faith in Donghyuck’s abilities), before the car was put into motion, the other’s hands easy on the steering wheel. 

The first half hour was calm. He payed attention to the kind street lights lit up the dark roads to keep from musing about how hot Donghyuck was with one hand on the wheel and the other firm on his thigh—the other seemingly unaware of what he was doing. The red to rise to his cheeks was hidden by the moonlight that filtered in through the windows and into their thoughtful environment. The music being played was the type to put him to sleep, and Donghyuck’s humming only made his eyelids droop even more. The slow rumble of the car and the steady turns his friend took created a level rhythm for him to focus on—a beat to follow as his eyes shut. 

He could only describe the first hour of the drive before he stopped fighting sleep and let himself be lulled into dreamland, thoughts of an angel running through his mind.

☼

Mark woke up to a flash of light in his face and a symphony of laughter beside him. 

When he looked over to see what had caused such a commotion, he was pulled back to reality at the sight of Donghyuck hunched over, clutching his stomach from maniacally giggling so much. It took him a second to realize the flash of light had been from the other taking a photo, and it took him another second to piece together that with the way Donghyuck was barely breathing, it probably wasn’t a photo he’d like.

Quickly, he lunged for the phone Donghyuck had dropped in the middle console. Upon turning it over and seeing the picture, he deleted it off the other’s phone. The photo was essentially normal except for one thing.

“Don’t tell me you wanted to take me on a road trip just so you could draw a dick on my face while I slept.” Mark groaned, slapping at Donghyuck’s arm.

“Oh of course not,” Donghyuck practically sang, “I could’ve done that anytime. I just saw the opportunity and took it.” 

He made a face at that and opened the vanity mirror to check the damage that had been done. The phone was grabbed from his hand and from the corner of his eye, he could see Donghyuck pull something up. It was then shoved in front of his face, a form of annoyance rising inside of him at the sight of the picture already having been sent to their friends in a group chat. 

He sighed, no bite to the huff, and grabbed a water bottle from the console to pour some on a stray clean napkin. Experimentally wiping at the drawing on his face, he was pleasantly surprised when it came off with only a bit of grey left behind. 

This was how their relationship was. Donghyuck loved playing around and Mark didn’t mind most of the time; he even joined in sometimes. He loved what they had, because there was an alluring familiarity to it that always comforted him. Their relationship, however, wasn’t all jokes and teasing. While there was a good amount of that, there was much more of everything else. 

There were gentle touches and warm hugs at low moments. There were words honest in their affection and glances that filled him with security. During the tough times, when he needed it but didn’t know how to ask, there was a shoulder to cry on and a hand to ground him. 

So as he wiped a drawing of a dick off of his face, he wasn’t all that mad. He wasn’t all that annoyed that he’d sent the picture to the group chat either. Donghyuck had a running joke with all of their friends to see how many times he could draw on their faces(spoiler: over 100 times), it wasn’t anything new. 

This was them. 

After a few minutes of rubbing, the drawing was finally gone and a dick was still sitting beside him, stupidly smiling at him and making him feel stupid butterflies flying into his stupid heart. Mark closed the mirror and turned to Donghyuck with a raised eyebrow, an obvious question forming on his lips: “Where are we?” 

Surveying their surroundings, Mark saw some grass, water, and rocks; the rushing waves and the lack of people told him Donghyuck had driven them to a secluded waterside view. The car was parked on a cliff that overlooked the ocean sparkling against the peeking sun—quite a romantic sight if you asked him. The sky was navy blue, slowly filling with burnt orange, but without the full rays of sun, there wasn’t much else he could make out from the view.

Though he didn't think he'd need to piece together the clues because the look in Donghyuck’s eyes gave him all the answers he needed. It was a wide-eyed glance that seemed to tell him, “That’s not important,” so Mark didn’t push. Instead, he basked in the radiance of the view in front of him, and let himself relax into the ragged leather seat. 

Donghyuck stretched his legs over the console and let them fall lazily into his lap. Mark’s hands came up to lay over them as he maneuvered them to a more comfortable position for both of them. Slowly, he came to the realization that the music had been turned off and the windows were rolled down just enough to hear the movement of crashing waves in the sleepy sunlight. 

The silence sent shivers over him. There was something hidden in it that sent a sliver of fear through him—something masked so easily in plain sight that threatened to expose itself at any given moment. It wasn’t new to them, the subtle nudge at a trying-to-bloom bud. He thinks this time, the bud really was trying to open itself to the world. 

Mark couldn’t think of anything scarier. 

Usually when this spiked air began to form between them, one would intervene to shift the environment back into what was known—what they were used to. Time and time again, they’d opt towards tiptoeing around the blatant elephant in the room. Quiet rang loud through the miniscule space between them because this time, neither of them made any move to do so.

Instead, Donghyuck shyly reached out his hand and had it easily accepted, their hands delicately folding to hold each other. Whether he realized it or not, he had crossed a bridge they’d never been brave enough to traverse; he’d stepped straight into the fire. 

There had always been this unspoken part of their relationship—an intimacy that had slowly weaved its way into each moment of their time together. It had entered their lives so naturally, so swiftly, that it was easy to overlook. Sometimes Mark did choose to pretend it wasn’t there, but other times, the pull at his heart was too noticeable to ignore. 

With Donghyuck’s hand warm against his own, this was one of those times. 

Mark thumbed at the other’s knuckles, wary and excited about what could happen next. Facing the potential future of their relationship was so shocking it made him restless, because something that had always seemed so intangible was staring right into his eyes and boring a hole into his soul. 

Mark turned his body to fully face Donghyuck and was met with the sight of peeking orange sunrise lighting the other’s skin in lucious gold. He had to do everything to keep from staring at Donghyuck’s lips, because at that moment, they had never looked so kissable. 

Just as he was about to look away to shut down his thoughts, Donghyuck cleared his throat to keep his attention. 

“The sunrise here,” Donghyuck started, voice barely above a whisper, “is really pretty and…” Mark strained to try and hear anything at the end of the trail off, but the only sound to meet his ears were his running thoughts. He watched as Donghyuck stared at their hands and wondered if he too could feel their heartbeats synced together-if he too felt what he felt.

“Well, the first time I saw the sunrise here, I knew I wanted to take you to see it too...wanted to watch it rise together.” 

There was no laughter in Donghyuck’s voice. There was no sarcastic lilt in his tone. There was just a fact leaping through the gap between them, making his head spin and his heart ache for something. Anything. 

The thought of the other looking at the beauty of the sunrise and thinking of him made his skin tingle in an unfocused sort of delight. Donghyuck was like that sometimes. He’d hand over subtle reminders that he thought of him, and Mark would feel his insides explode in unalloyed happiness—a feeling completely unmatched and perfect enough to want to drown in. 

His mind twirled and spun until it landed on the thought that he often tried to run from: _I like Lee Donghyuck._

If there was any time to tell the other, he thought now was as good as he’ll get; that was scarier in more ways than one. The shift their relationship would take terrified him, but after years of hiding, he didn’t think he could last another second. He squeezed Donghyuck’s hand—drawing the other’s attention—before taking a breath that stung his lungs. 

“Donghyuck you’re so beautiful, and so caring and so kind and I’ve been wanting to tell you for a really long time like...a super long time,” Mark spluttered the words out, practically tripping over them, “that I like you. Really really like you. You kinda mean everything to me and you’re always on my mind and—”

He sucked in a breath before continuing, mumbling his confession and urging it to leave his system, completely aware he was dumping out his feelings fast. For him though, it was this or nothing at all. 

Years before he had planned out an intricate speech and played it through his mind, but now that the moment was here, he couldn’t remember a single word of the script. Mark felt almost guilty for continuing on, but it was almost like once the dam was broken, the water kept coming; he would think it was some sort of nonsense spewing from his lips, but he couldn’t stop. 

“I’ve always wanted to be there for you and take care of you and be your someone and Donghyuck I just—“ Mark choked out, his breath being stolen as Donghyuck whispered out a light _“Fuck you.”_

Mark paused at the words that bled hurt and something else he couldn’t put his finger on. It’s a phrase he was so familiar with, even endeared by at times, but in this situation—in this second—there was nothing worse. 

He almost elbowed the door from how quickly he jerked away from Donghyuck, the boy’s skin fire to touch. Where warmth usually hid, there were now flames licking at him, giving him enough signal to know he should back off. He could hear his own breath begin to become ragged as a steady blush crept over his features—his worst fears coming to life in the few milliseconds to pass. 

He had told himself he would be fine if Donghyuck said he just wanted to be friends, but in that moment, even without those words, Mark could feel the clutch around his heart tighten. There was a pain he had never felt before as his heart got stuck in his throat and tried to claw its way out of his body, desperate for air—for life—as it struggled to prepare for what was coming. 

With a deep breath, Mark forced himself to look at Donghyuck, and what he saw led to the first part of his heart shattering. 

His eyes were met with the sight of a wistful smile and glistening pools of water tickling the edges of Donghyuck’s eyes. The expression was obviously brimming with so much, yet was so unreadable. Mark wanted to say something stupid to make that far away smile light up. He wanted to swipe away those undeserving tears, for they had no place on such a beautiful face. He wanted to hold Donghyuck, and ask him what was wrong, what he had done to cause such a far-away expression, how he could fix it, how he could fix himself. 

But he didn't. 

Mark sat there with wide eyes and his own teardrops threatening to spill his inner thoughts down his cheekbones and open to the world. There was nothing that could’ve prepared him for this feeling of being so close to the edge of spiraling yet having to keep grounded for the pure sake of someone else. Because at this moment Mark truly realized something that sent electricity through his body and lit him up with energy: no matter the outcome of this situation, there is nothing that will stop him from caring and loving Donghyuck. There is nothing in his heart that will change because the honey skinned, clever and quick-tongued clingy boy he grew familiar with will always be nestled in his soul and in him. 

In one way or another, Donghyuck will always have his heart. 

Before he could speak the words scrambling into his mind, to say it was okay if Donghyuck didn’t feel the same and that what they already had was enough, he felt himself blank as a tear rolled down Donghyuck's cheek. There was nothing but regret that filled each and every ounce of Mark’s body for being the cause of those tears. 

“Fuck you,” Donghyuck pushed, pausing to steady himself. “god fuck you I had a whole plan and you ruined it.”

His brain paused. Mark couldn’t think. He had prepared himself for two options: acceptance or rejection, not whatever the hell it was Donghyuck was talking about. 

“Why’re you crying?” Mark asked, aware of how small his voice was, “no wait wait, what do you mean plan?” 

He had so many questions. Overthinking thoughts ran wild inside his head, everything up in flames as he tried to piece together what was happening. Fingers filled with nervous energy, he tapped at his thigh, trying to get a scope on the situation. 

“I’m a bit overwhelmed, sorry uh.” Donghyuck paused and Mark reached over to swipe away at his cheek, tears warm against his thumb. “My plan was to bring you here and confess,” Donghyuck chuckled before continuing, “but you beat me to it huh.”

There was a pause as Donghyuck’s hand made its way back into his own. He watched as the younger man thoughtfully placed his lips to the back of his hand, inciting fireworks to burst along each and every part of him. 

“I really like you too Mark.”

Their eyes met and he knew. Mark knew he was telling the truth. He could see it in the tension leaving Donghyuck’s shoulders and the unusual shyness in his grin. The words floated in the space between them, holding a potential map to their future together. Then his thoughts stopped. They halted and held their breath as they processed the new piece of baffling information smacking him in the face: _Donghyuck likes me back._

Mark leaned in towards the other—one hand on the other’s thigh, eyes wide—to voice his absolute elation, but the only words to make their way out of his mouth wasn’t what he expected: 

“Well that’s a relief because I thought you were going to try and push me off the cliff or something.” 

And the incredulous look on Donghyuck’s face and his roaring laughter a second later was worth the embarrassment he felt. It was worth everything as Donghyuck called him an idiot and edged forward to nudge their foreheads together. Time and space seemed to inhale the tension being created right before he closed the space between them, sealing their lips together in a moment he’d cherish forever. 

As the sun rose against the silhouette of their lips moving against each other, faint rays of light wrapping them in comfort—Mark couldn’t help but think that every point in his history with Donghyuck brought him to this moment—this feeling of his insides burning up—his nerve ends tensed in a state of electric shock as he let himself be consumed by the all present sun. 

The warmth in his heart matched the heat against his lips with each languid caress. Soft giggles filled the space between their lingering kisses, full of sparked magic he wished to study forever. He littered kisses all over the other's face, completely in love with the way Donghyuck leaned into the touches and illuminated the space between them with laughter. With barely a moment's notice, Donghyuck's lips were back on his own, licking at his bottom lip to ask for entrance; their tongues danced in a ballroom pieced together just for them. He loved the hand running through his hair and the other secure on his hip, tethering him to the second they seemed to be stopped in. He loved the lack of room between their bodies—his own hand grasping at the other’s sweatshirt, daring for more, and getting it.

They stayed like that, bodies pressed gently together, as the rising sun greeted them. And Mark didn’t think he’d mind living in this moment forever—basking in beams of light with sunshine on the tip of his tongue—in a place entirely of their own making. He didn't think he'd mind one bit.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! if you enjoyed, please let me know your thoughts! i hope you have a great day/night!! <3  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/ykyoonoh)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/ykyoonoh)


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